“Bathed in Fire” at Sunny Yoga Kitchen

“Bathed In Fire”

Solo exhibit by Lisa Marie Sipe

Bend, Oregon – Sunny Yoga Kitchen presents a fine art exhibition with commentary on wildfire and the environment by local artist Lisa Marie Sipe. The paintings in “Bathed in Fire” represent different fires in Arizona and Oregon, and have physical connections to their place.

“Is it really possible to manage forest fires?” asks Sipe, “It seems like a tall order to think we can control the forest when the National Forests alone represents 190 million acres. This is what I’ve been thinking about since 2011 when the largest wildfire in Arizona history occurred. The Wallow fire scorched the land my husband grew up on in the White Mountains of Arizona. The Wallow fire didn’t take family photo albums or ranch structures but it changed the landscape so we can only visit and feel scars within our lifetime.” After seeing the aftermath of the Wallow fire, Sipe was inspired to create artwork from her experience. “During my visit to Rudd Creek, Riggs Mountain and the brome fields at Sipe White Mountain Wildlife Area I collected wood, rock and soot. At the time I wasn’t thinking about incorporating them into a painting, the objects just felt precious to me, like picking up shells on the beach.”

Sipe’s mixed media artwork is a combination of photography, encaustic (a wax mixture of beeswax and resin) and found objects from the forest. Since her move to Central Oregon in 2012, the region was hit by the Pole Creek Fire in Sisters and the recent Two Bulls Fire in Bend. The “Bathed in Fire” exhibition will include artwork inspired by these two fires and the artist hopes the work will raise awareness about the role fire plays in the environment.

The reception for “Bathed in Fire,” is on Saturday July 5th from 6 – 8 pm at Sunny Yoga Kitchen, 2748 NW Crossing Drive Suite 120, Bend, Oregon 97701. The exhibition will be up from July 5th to August 29th, 2014.

About Sunny Yoga KitchenSunny Yoga Kitchen is a multi-functional space serving up healthy house made food as well as heartfelt Yoga classes and community events. Sunny aims to create an environment that nurtures a community based on a well rounded approach to healthy, happy living. Sunny is building a thriving community through Yoga classes and workshops intended to strengthen the body and mind while also nourishing the community with freshly prepared nutritional food and creative drink options. The studio and kitchen are open 6 days a week with a space for everyone to come together, unwind and replenish. For more information visit SunnyYogaKitchen.com.

4 Comments

Marie Mahoney
on July 5, 2014 at 8:05 pm

Thank you Lisa for your info on your latest work and exhibit. I would love to visit Oregon someday. Arizona has been hit with fires again and the continuous challenges of coexisting with forests, fires, and how it affects our environments are always good questions to ponder. Most recently the amazing Sedona/Slide Rock area suffered a big fire and so many people had to evacuate.

Good Luck on your exhibit. Wonderful art you make. I hope you come back to Arizona at some point sharing more of your exhibits.
Thank you,
Marie Mahoney – Phoenix, Az.

Lisa, we are both tuning into the issue of fires! I love what you are doing. I have been working on a series of trees after a fire. I guess one cannot shake off the imagery once you have hiked through a burnt forest. Good luck with the show.

Thanks Kate! It really is hard to shake the imagery of the burnt forest. I visited a recently hit area a few weeks ago and it made me feel so weird. It even sounded different, the creaking of the skeletal trees made me feel like the forest was haunted.